On Saturday, April 25, 2026, PRISM, along with 33rd Street Productions and Cosplay Club, hosted its fourth annual drag event. PRISM, the LGBTQ+ organization on campus, has been in and out of activity in the six years that I’ve been at Illinois Tech. In my third year, I was one of the students who helped revive the organization after the entire executive board graduated the year prior. In my fifth year, the organization stopped hosting events (save for the drag event at the end of the spring semester) altogether. Now, in the spring of 2026, PRISM has come back in an attempt to revive the organization for hopefully the final time.
Elio Armas-Rojo, PRISM president (also the president when I was on the executive board), returned as an attempt to bring the organization back. He recruited students from multiple organizations, including the Student Government Association (SGA), to rebrand the organization for the better and to assist in planning the annual drag night event. As one of the people who was recruited, it has always been a pleasure working with Armas-Rojo in any way possible, as he has proven time and time again that he is hard-working, communicative, and committed to every cause he is a part of. We worked hard to rework the overall feel of PRISM, which had turned in the past two years to focus mostly on education instead of having fun as a community. Armas-Rojo aims to make PRISM more welcoming to everyone, including allies, and act as a safe space for any student who needs it.
Now, back to the drag show.
While drag has a bit of a controversy in society, with debates as to whether or not “cross-dressing” is appropriate or fetishizing LGBTQ+ culture, it is a wonderful way to introduce culture to a wider audience. Drag is a performance art, and all art is controversial. There is nothing in this world that everybody is going to be happy about. Art has always been cultural, political, and reflective of what is happening in the current day. Personally, it is one of my favorite media of art. I am LGBTQ+, I am a theater kid, and, most importantly, I am a cosplayer. Art will be making a statement even without saying something outright. It’s beautiful, it’s over-the-top, it’s AMAZING.
Armas-Rojo reached out to SGA, 33rd Street Productions, and Cosplay Club (which I’m the current president of) a few months ago, asking us to assist PRISM in hosting the drag event. In the past, the 33rd and Cosplay Club have participated in the event, but the past few years’ events had caused some tension between the organizations, making the want to participate again require more convincing. Armas-Rojo promised clear, honest, and prompt communication, and he has proven his competency in more ways than one. We were convinced. Together, the four organizations (SGA didn’t participate as an organization, but they had some representatives assist with the rebrand and event) planned the event in the span of approximately two months, something that usually took a full year of organizing. And it did not disappoint.
PRISM recruited four returning drag performers: Kimberly Summer, O’Laysia, Xo Carrington, and our host and only drag king, Travis Fiero. Travis Fiero (stage name) had performed at Illinois Tech for three out of the four years, including hosting our second year of the event as well. They assisted in recruiting our other performers, for which we will forever be grateful. All performers were incredibly professional and easy to work with, making the stress of planning an event in such a short span of time so much smoother.
The event was 80s themed, something that greatly resonated with the LGBTQ+ community. The 80s had been a very difficult time period for LGBTQ+ people, and, with the current tensions rising and new pushback against the community from the federal government (and local governments), this was a perfect theme to highlight both the fighting we need to do, as well as the fact that we can still find joy in times of struggle.
Fiero started the show with a dazzling performance of Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar, their outfit, wig, and makeup meshing both masculine and feminine elements seamlessly (in my opinion, one of my favorite styles of drag). Their second set, a mix of Heroes by David Bowie, was a stunning performance that had everyone’s eyes glued to them. Their last set, a mashup of a few Journey songs, hyped the crowd up with their energy, leading to a *cough* hypothetical destruction of a table in the Bog. Fiero was an excellent host, interacting with both the crowd and performers equally, and commenting on the importance of drag in history and society.
Kimberly Summer, affectionately labeled as “Chicago’s favorite redhead” by Fiero (I agree, by the way, she is an absolute delight), started with an ABBA remix. To my dismay, a lot of the younger students didn’t know the words to any of the songs, but that didn’t pull away from the audience’s attention to Kimberly’s performance. Her mix of Exposé songs was both wild and classy at the same time, the audience cheering her on loudly. Last but not least, Summer ended her performances with a Madonna mix, which had me absolutely floored. All of Summer’s looks were so clearly and effortlessly representative of the artists she used songs from, with her own little touch that made everything she did iconic.
O’Laysia was the third performer in the set, starting with Doja Cat and a stunning rose-themed outfit. Her next set was Tina Turner, her incredibly sparkly outfit turning her into a literal diamond. O’Laysia’s last set was Nasty Girl by Vanity 6 and Prince. The crowd went WILD, with a group of students at a booth losing their minds at her classy black bodysuit and amazing performance.
Lastly, we had Xo Carrington, her first set being Mamma Mia by ABBA. Her big hair, winged headpiece, and flowy silver sleeves reminisced about some of ABBA’s flashiest outfits. Up next was Magic Dance by David Bowie from the movie Labyrinth. Her big blue pigtails and black and white outfit beautifully represented Bowie’s style without needing to sacrifice femininity in the process (though I would never argue that Bowie’s style was necessarily masculine). The last performance of the night was a mashup of Kill the Lights by Alex Newell & DJ Cassidy with Nile Rodgers, HBO’s Vinyl, and Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa. Her beautiful butterfly bodysuit maintained the 80s theme even without necessarily performing a song from the era, though both songs definitely resonated the right vibes.
Each performer had three sets, with some interstitial performances from 33rd Street members in between to better offset the prep needed by our king and queens. From stand-up to K-pop performances, the audience remained attentive and entertained throughout the entire event. Let’s have another big round of applause for Lainey Rambert, Ella Slinn, and Charlie Sanders for their amazing performances that they only had a few weeks (I’m being generous with this) to prepare.
Overall, the event couldn’t be seen as anything less than a success. While we could have benefitted from more time to prepare and advertise, we still had an amazing turnout with excellent performances with little to no problems behind the scenes.
Of course, none of this could have happened without the assistance of 33rd Street Productions. They set up and programmed all the sound and lighting, as well as provided our interstitial performers.
PRISM aims to remain for good this time, with Armas-Rojo looking to pass on the torch to whoever is excited and ready to lead PRISM to greater heights.